


Restless Nights

by mdr_24601



Series: you're not alone at the table anymore [2]
Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Ben Hargreeves' Tentacles | Bentacles, Gen, Klaus Hargreeves-centric, No Incest, Pre-Canon, Reginald Hargreeves' A+ Parenting, The Mausoleum (Umbrella Academy), no beta we die like ben
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-10
Updated: 2020-10-10
Packaged: 2021-03-07 22:41:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,550
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26935279
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mdr_24601/pseuds/mdr_24601
Summary: “Klaus?” Ben asked, breaking the silence. “Do you ever...not want these powers? Like, do you ever wish you were ordinary?”His throat was oddly scratchy when he replied. “All the time.”----Klaus Hargreeves hates his powers. Luckily, he's not the only one.
Relationships: Ben Hargreeves & Klaus Hargreeves
Series: you're not alone at the table anymore [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1958572
Kudos: 74





	Restless Nights

He picked at his fingernails, trying to get the blood out, but it was no use. Not even Mom’s cleaning at the infirmary could do anything about the blood that made a permanent home underneath his fingernails. Maybe he could ask Allison to paint his nails during their next free time on Saturday, that might help. Sighing heavily, Klaus leaned back on his bed, empty eyes fixed up at the ceiling. 

He felt restless and jittery, like he didn’t quite fit in his own skin. His hands were still shaking and showed no signs of stopping. 

His arms still stung with scratches, even though Mom had bandaged them up already. Dad only gave him an accusing stare when he saw the scratches, his eyes examining him coldly. His father’s voice still echoed in his ears; _three more hours, Number Four._

Really, the scratches were just an unfortunate side effect of the mausoleum. As if Dad cared about that. He couldn’t help that the ghosts were _scary_ , could he?

_It’s time to get over this fear, Number Four. Twelve years old and you’re still acting like a child._

Dad wasn’t in the room but it felt like he was. The ghosts hadn’t stopped screaming since the mausoleum, and he knew he was going to be tired at training tomorrow. He always was after nights like these. 

Something shuffled by his doorway, but Klaus didn’t look up. Maybe, if he pretended to be asleep, it would go away. Good plan, right?

Well, not really. 

“Klaus?”

Oh, he knew that voice. “Ben,” he greeted in response, voice soft. “Shouldn’t you be asleep by now?”

He couldn’t see well in the dark, but he was certain that Ben was smiling that sarcastic smile of his. “Shouldn’t you?” he asked. He heard footsteps, then Ben’s voice was closer. “What are you still doing up?”

“Oh, you know,” Klaus said nonchalantly. “Just hanging out with my friends here.” No matter how hard he tried to sound casual, he couldn’t keep the panicked edge out of his voice. 

Ben sighed. “You had training tonight, didn’t you? I heard you leave.”

“Staying up past curfew? Better be careful, Ben, don’t want to get caught.”

“Klaus,” he said again, insistently. “Look, my room’s dark and my bed keeps making this weird creaking noise, so...could I sleep in here tonight?”

Klaus paused. He knew that Ben’s room got great light because of his huge window, even in the nighttime, when the light from the moon streamed in. As for his bed, well, that was still up for debate. But Ben’s eyes looked so pleading. “Get in here,” he said, pulling the covers back to let his brother inside. “But I know you’re not actually scared.”

“You don’t know that,” he retorted. “Maybe I developed a sudden fear of the dark.”

“Or you just wanted to come in here.”

Ben laughed a little. “Hey, I could just leave and go to Five’s room. Or Vanya’s, she’d let me in.”

Klaus nudged his shoulder gently. “But you didn’t. You came here.”

After a beat of silence, Ben said, “You looked scared. After training, I mean. And I thought that maybe it would help to have somebody with you.”

“They’re so loud,” Klaus whispered, burying his face in his pillow. “Why are ghosts so loud?”

“I don’t know,” he admitted softly. “Is there anything that makes them quieter?”

“Yes, not going into mausoleums.”

Klaus’ breath caught in his throat as something brushed his arm. Ben wrapped his arms around Klaus cautiously, and he didn’t stop him. “If any of them try to hurt you, I’ll scare them off.”

“You’re not scary,” Klaus replied with a soft laugh. 

“I can be. The tentacles, remember?”

“Ah yes, the Bentacles,” he responded, giggling. Beside him, Ben bit back a laugh. 

“That’s not funny,” he protested weakly. “It’s a bad pun.”

“It’s a great pun,” Klaus said. “And it is funny, you’re laughing!”

“Quiet, you’ll wake the others up,” Ben said, softening his voice again. 

Klaus paused to consider that. “Will they be jealous that we’re having a sleepover and they’re not allowed to?”

“Technically,” his brother began, “we’re not allowed to have sleepovers, either.”

He giggled a little. “Well, it’s okay.” Another pause, then, “I’m glad you’re here.”

Ben didn’t say anything, but he didn’t need to. Klaus was finally lulled to sleep by the gentle rhythm of his brother’s breathing, and the consistent rise and fall of his chest.

* * *

Klaus groaned as the morning alarm blared days later, assaulting his ears. Sleep was as elusive as ever with a bunch of entitled ghosts screaming in his ears all the time, and he didn’t have the energy to combat the effects of long-term sleep deprivation. 

Doors opened and his siblings stepped into the hallway almost simultaneously. His eyes scanned the hallway, seeing everyone there as normal. Well, almost everyone. 

“Where’s Ben?” he asked Five, who only gave him a shrug before teleporting to the bathroom. 

Klaus made his way to Ben’s room, only pausing momentarily at Allison’s surprised shriek of, “Five, I told you not to do that!”

Mom stepped out of Ben’s room, a smile fixed on her face. “Good morning, dear. Shouldn’t you be getting ready?”

“Where’s Ben?” he asked again. 

“Your brother is not feeling well this morning,” Mom said with a softer voice. “He’s still resting.”

“I’m going in there.”

“Okay, dear, just remember that breakfast is in twenty minutes!”

Ben was curled up on his side on his bed, his hands resting on his stomach. He stifled a groan. 

“What’s wrong?” Klaus asked, subtle as ever. 

“Stomach ache,” Ben replied through clenched teeth. 

He raised his eyebrows. “Normal stomach ache or tentacle stomach ache?” Calling it tentacle stomach ache wasn’t very catchy, but it wasn’t like it had a proper name. Maybe they could come up with one. 

“The second one,” he said, his voice still strained with pain. “They get restless sometimes. Dad has me training today.”

“I see,” Klaus said sadly. He always thought that Ben was too good to have the powers he did. “Well, I hate to break it to you, but breakfast is in twenty minutes, and Dad’ll be pissed if we’re late. Wouldn’t want to miss that riveting Herr Carlson lecture.”

“Oh, no,” Ben groaned, pain momentarily forgotten. “It’s Herr Carlson again? He speaks so slowly that I nearly fall asleep.”

“I know, right?” he agreed with a laugh. “Seriously, though. C’mere, I’ll help you up.”

Carefully, he guided Ben through his morning routine as quickly as possible, making it to the table just before Dad. Ben was right, though. Herr Carlson was extremely boring. 

He made a gesture of falling asleep into his oatmeal, and Ben grinned in response. He felt Dad’s gaze on him and his head snapped back up. 

Klaus didn’t get a chance to speak with Ben all day in between classes and training. Dad kept them busy and it wasn’t until after Mom had tucked them all in for the night that he made his way to Ben’s room. 

“Ben?” he asked. No response. The sound of running water alerted him to a presence in the bathroom. Well, he thought as he walked down the hall, it was worth a try. 

The door opened with a slight creak and Ben looked up from the sink. “Klaus,” he said, surprised. The water rushed over his still hands and slid languidly down the drain. 

“Hey,” Klaus said. “What’re you doing?”

“Nothing,” Ben said, shutting off the water. His hair was still damp from his shower after training. “It’s just that it won’t come off.”

His eyes focused on Ben’s hands, noticing the familiar sight of blood under his fingernails. Whatever Dad made him do must’ve gotten him covered in the stuff, even if most of it was washed away in the shower. 

“Here.” He turned the water back on and helped Ben clean his hands. “We should get to your room, before anyone else wakes up.”

“We?”

“Well, yeah,” he said with a small smile. “You didn’t think I’d leave you alone, did you?”

Ben shrugged slightly. They slowly walked back to his room, careful to avoid the creaky floorboards. Ben nearly collapsed on his bed as soon as the door was closed. “I can never sleep after training.”

Klaus hummed softly in agreement. The room was silent for a moment save for the sound of their breathing. 

“Klaus?” Ben asked, breaking the silence. “Do you ever...not want these powers? Like, do you ever wish you were ordinary?”

His throat was oddly scratchy when he replied. “All the time.”

“I keep thinking that one day, I’ll lose control, and just,” his voice cracked, “kill you all.”

“You wouldn’t,” Klaus assured him. “You wouldn’t hurt us.”

“I wouldn’t,” Ben said. He gestured to his stomach. “But they might.”

Klaus sighed. “Looks like we got the short end of the stick, huh?”

“Guess so,” was Ben’s response. He let the silence wrap around them like a blanket, his mind and body tired. Still, he had one last question before he fell asleep. 

“Ben?” he asked softly, hoping his brother hadn’t fallen asleep already. To his relief, Ben rolled over to face him. 

“Yeah?”

“Want to play with me during free time tomorrow?”

**Author's Note:**

> I know this series is supposed to be about Hargreeves family bonding, but I just keep writing, like, the same three people. So, sorry about that, I guess.
> 
> This was fun to write, though I'm not sure I got their characterizations right. Let me know your thoughts, and thank you for reading! <3


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